Death's Game
by wolfsrun
Summary: AU. After the final battle, Harry Potter is murdered by an unknown assassin during the victory celebration. Death is displeased. Given a second chance to do things right, Harry is sent back to his beginning with a gift from Death. Video Game Harry! Grey Harry! Pairings undecided. Rated M for language/violence/perhaps adult situations.
1. The 11th Hour

**I do not own Harry Potter, The Gamer, or Fallout which are the inspirations for this fanfic.**

**Chapter 1: The 11th Hour**

"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

A red-glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand:

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort's green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.

One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun dazzled the windows as they thundered toward him, and the first to reach him were Ron and Hermione, and it was their arms that were wrapped around him, their incomprehensible shouts that deafened him. Then Ginny, Neville, and Luna were there, and then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, not tell whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to hug some part of him, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, the reason it was over at last.

It was because of this chaos, this jubilant celebration of victory that no one saw when the assassin's blade struck. In the press of friends and family, Harry's euphoria from his victory was shattered by a sharp pain suddenly appearing in his chest.

Looking down, he saw a dagger with a dark air about it protruding from his chest. He never saw it coming. He never saw who struck the blow during this, the eleventh hour. It was his moment of victory. Everything was supposed to finally get better. And yet, the dagger in his chest said otherwise.

As his vision faded to black, and a piercing scream was heard over the celebrations of victory, Harry had one final thought: _Well…that sucks._

**A/N: The first part of this is taken directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter Thirty-six. The second part beginning with the assassin's blade is original, although I am sure it has been done by someone in one or more of the thousands of HP fanfics. If someone else has used this idea I am not aware of who you are and sorry if this offends you. I will make a point of giving credit to authors I borrow ideas from as well as requesting their permission to use their ideas. Any other similarities to other fanfics that may appear is simply coincidence. I will strive to be as original as possible in my writing, although this fanfic will draw from Harry Potter and The Gamer for inspiration and will borrow the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. idea from Fallout. The only reason I don't have this listed as a xover is because while The Gamer and Fallout may be sources of inspiration, those universes won't interact with or influence the Harry Potter AU I am creating. For any who may comment that there is hardly any original content here, the first chapter is more of a prologue, and future chapters will not use verbatim text from the Harry Potter books as a means of progressing the story. Obviously, there may be scenarios similar to moments in the HP books, but they will be done in original ways. This story is intended to be AU and Harry and perhaps others will be OOC. Also, this is my first fanfic, so please be kind and remember to R/R to help me improve!**


	2. Dealing with Death

**I do not own Harry Potter, The Gamer, or Fallout which are the inspirations for this fanfic.**

**Chapter 2: Dealing with Death**

Darkness.

Emerald eyes opened to take in their surroundings, only to find they were surrounded by nothing. Floating in a vast sea of darkness, Harry felt the weight of the Abyss press down on him. Like the endless void of space but without even the prick of light that a star offers to give him a sense of direction and presence. Not even during his time in the cupboard under the stairs had he felt so horribly alone.

"Huh. What happened to the train station?"

**"There will be no train station this time. That is because, this time, there is no choice to choose. My will is law and you will bow before it."**

Harry started as a voice seemed to echo inside his very skull. A voice that seemed a bit pissed off.

"Wh-Who's there?!"

**"Really? That was a pretty cliche response. Who do you think, the Easter Bunny? You died Mr. Peverell. Who do you think would greet you in an endless abyss after dying?"**

"...Santa Clause?"

**"I'm going to ignore that, because otherwise I would feel compelled to erase you from existence."**

"Right. Sorry about that. I can only assume I am speaking to Death then. The question is, why? Why am I here and not moving on to the afterlife? And did you say Peverell? My name is Potter, not Peverell."

**"The fact that you do not know your own name is irrelevant to me. What matters is that you died when you should not have. You united the Hallows. My Hallows. My gift to the Peverell line, that when united by their head of family, would have made that scion my avatar on Earth. You became Head of the Peverell line when you killed the previous head. And, while you united my Hallows, the stone was damaged during the destruction of the Horcrux that infested it. Thus, when you united my Hallows, instead of becoming my Avatar, you became some corrupted perversion of what you should have been. My powers made your soul immortal, but not your body. With your body dead, and no Horcrux to tether you to that plane of existence, your soul was cast into the afterlife. However, with an immortal soul you are unable to truly crossover unless you master my powers. Thus, you have now become stuck in the Inbetween. You now reside in the Abyss and with even the connection to my powers that you should have wielded corrupted, you are stuck.**"

"That...is a lot to take in. When did I kill some guy named Peverell? How am I even a Peverell to begin with? And I'm supposed to be immortal? And I'm stuck? What the fuck?!"

**"Silence. I care not for your opinion. That is the state of things. If it did not trouble me so, I would have left you to your fate. However, you are supposed to be my Avatar on Earth. You are supposed to oversee the balance and ensure another **_**Voldemort**_** does not occur. And yet, you are here. And now I am forced to intervene. Be thankful boy. You are about to receive a gift that none have been given before. I am going to send you back to your beginning so that you might relive your life. This time you had better do things right. Time is not my domain, and doing this will cost me a favor with Chronos. You **_**will not**_** get a third chance. Since you are going to be going back to before you united my Hallows, your soul will no longer be immortal. This means that until you reunite my Hallows, you will remember nothing of this conversation or your previous life. Mortals are simply too feeble minded to comprehend and remember such things. So, in order to make sure you know your purpose I will grant you a boon. I will gift you a power that will remind you of your purpose and help you to monitor your progress, so that you stay on task. Do not fail me. If you do, I will reincarnate your soul into one of Aberforth Dumbledore's goats."**

A myriad of emotion's crossed Harry's face as he listened to Death. Incredulity, consternation, resignation, and finally utter horror as the last thing Death said registered in his mind.

"Wait...wha-?!"

And suddenly he felt a jerking sensation. It felt similar to a portkey, except instead of his gut, the pull centered upon his heart. Also, it was much more painful.

**A/N: For anyone who missed the joke…Aberforth Dumbledore is a goat fucker. I figured I'd just throw that out there.**


	3. Let the Games Begin

**I do not own Harry Potter, The Gamer, or Fallout which are the inspirations for this fanfic.**

**Chapter 3: Let the Games Begin**

Harry rubbed his bleary eyes as he woke to a soft blue luminescence in his otherwise dark cupboard. His life up to this point was identical to his first life. As Death had stated, he had no memories of his previous life, or their meeting after Harry's demise. And so, things progressed as normal.

Harry was born into a loving family, only to have said family murdered by the pureblood supremacist Voldemort. Immediately after his loving parents' death, he reflected a killing curse, thus destroying Voldemort's mortal body. He was then dumped on the front doorstep of his relatives, the Dursleys, by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. From there he has half starved, emotionally neglected, physically overworked, and verbally abused by his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, and physically abused by his cousin Dudley. Such was his life for five years.

Of course, being too young to remember most of this, all that Harry knew was that his name was Freak and the better he got at doing what he was told while staying out of the way, the less pain he suffered.

Then, on July 31, 1985, something different happened. Something that had not happened in Harry's previous life (not that he knew that). It all began with him waking to a soft, electric blue light.

After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Harry looked at the source of the soft blue glow.

**Quest Notice:**  
><strong>Lasting Impressions<strong>  
><em>You have just turned 5! Your compulsory primary education begins September 1st. Be sure to make a good impression!<em>  
><strong>Quest Details:<strong>  
><em>Learn your name.<em>  
><em>Get a set of clothes without holes that fits your body size.<em>  
><strong>Time Limit:<strong>  
><em>Quest ends September 2<em>_nd__, 1985._  
><strong>Completion Reward:<strong>  
><em>+25 exp.<em>  
><em>+1 Charisma.<em>  
><em>+30 influence with faculty and students at St. Grogory's Primary School.<em>  
><em>+1 candy bar.<em>  
><strong>Completion Failure:<strong>  
><em>-1 Charisma.<em>  
><em>-30 influence with faculty and students at St. Grogory's Primary School.<em>

Harry stared. And stared. And then he stared some more.

Then he sighed.

"I don't know what this is, but it would probably help if I could read. Now, how do I get rid of this?"

Noticing what appeared to be a button on the strange glowing box with indecipherable text, Harry pushed it and was slightly startled, yet happy, when it promptly disappeared.

"Freak! Get out here and make breakfast!"

"Coming Uncle Vernon!"

**A/N: And here we go. The game has begun, but what will happen? Will this mysterious power help or hurt Harry as he grows? Who knows what the future may bring. Tune in next time on...meh, just R/R plz.**


	4. Life is Nothing But a Game

**I do not own Harry Potter, The Gamer, or Fallout which are the inspirations for this fanfic.**

**A/N: First off, thanks for all of the comments! There were a couple of downers, but for the most part my feedback has been positive. I've read and considered everything that has been said, and while a may give a brief overview in my A/N's, I'll let the story tell the tale of where I am going with this. First a brief recap:**

**Harry died and is reliving his life, but does not get to keep his memories. This means he will not have prior knowledge to change anything in his second chance. However, he does have a gamer ability to help him through life. This will change how Harry develops in his formative years which will effectively change how he interacts with the world. In essence, Harry will be different from Canon and this will cause unique situations. This is an AU people.**

**I previously had an A/N posted, that I replaced with this chapter, that let people know I was working on figuring out what type of gaming format I would use, and how I would implement it. This means coming up with skills, the stat distribution, how skills effect stats, how the character will gain skills and stats, etc. I originally wanted to go with a more "The Gamer" route, but decided against that. While I will still have some influences from that manga, the main selling point for it was ID create and escape, but I felt that would make Harry overpowered too quickly so that had to go. I won't go into too much detail on what the final result of my deliberations is in an A/N. Read for yourself and tell me what you think.**

**Chapter 4: Life is Nothing but a Game**

After that first message popped up on his fifth birthday, Harry simply continued on with his daily life. He did his chores, kept his head down, and did what he could to pass through school, and life in general, without drawing attention to himself. In his experience, attention was _always_ a bad thing.

Despite this, he continued to receive the occasional pop-up. It was not until the summer after first grade, however, that he finally began to understand the effect these pop ups had on his life. This was partly because he had experienced them often enough to gain a basic understanding. However, the main reason was that his reading comprehension was finally high enough that he could understand what they were saying. Most of the pop-ups appeared only infrequently, however there were a few that seemed to be a recurring theme in his life.

**+1 Physical Damage Resistance**

**+1 Running**

**+1 Jumping**

**+1 Climbing**

**+1 Cooking**

**+1 Cleaning**

**+1 Gardening**

After dealing with these pop-ups often enough, Harry realized that he was actually becoming better at what they mentioned. Running allowed him to run faster for a longer period of time before getting tired and Physical Damage Resistance made it so Dudley's beatings, when he was caught, did not hurt quite as much.

It was with this new understanding that he began to realize the usefulness of these pop-ups. Especially quests. Although infrequent, occasionally he would receive a Quest Notice pop-up. And, every time he accepted and completed a quest, he received something called "Exp." Even better, he occasionally received an actual item as a reward!

He even received a pocket full of candy after he helped Mrs. Figg from across the street find one of her cats! Of course, Dudley promptly beat him up and stole it all, but not before he was able to chew a piece of Bazooka bubble gum and read its comic. It was the best day ever! Unfortunately, it was reading the comic that tipped Dudley off to his newly acquired candy stash, but all in all he considered it a good experience.

And so, the year continued on. He went about his life as normal, while doing the occasional quest, and clicking through the odd pop-up that let him know he had improved a skill. Occasionally, he would receive a quest and gain items, but generally he just received Exp. from them.

It was not until he had a chance encounter with some teenagers at the local park that Harry gained a true understanding of his ability. This encounter occurred during the summer after second grade when Harry had successfully escaped from Dudley and his friends, who had recently taken to playing a game they called "Harry Hunting".

Deciding to hide in the park, Harry came across a group of teens who were sitting at a park bench playing a strange looking game. They had a board spread out in front of them with characters on it, along with a bunch of cards and dice. The game they were playing was called _Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay_ and had apparently just been released that year.

He did not truly understand the game, but the teens were nice and let him sit and watch. Harry appreciated this because he knew that even if Dudley found him, he wouldn't try anything around a group of teenagers. And so, Harry relaxed, watched, and learned. He was too young to grasp the finer points of the game, but he did pick up a few things, and those things were enough to change his life. He learned that the characters in the game were able to train to improve skills and attributes. He also learned that certain careers had requirements that must be met before a character could utilize it. Basically, through training the characters were able to improve their strength and skill, and as they got better they were able to do bigger and better things.

This may seem like a simple and obvious observation, but to Harry it was life altering. Up until that point, he had simply been living from day to day. Each day, he simply tried his best to keep his head down and go unnoticed. Sure, he thought the pop-ups showing how he improved was cool, but he never actively tried to better himself.

After watching these teens, however, Harry had an epiphany. If he actively trained the skills these pop-ups told him about, he could become strong. Strong enough that no one would ever hurt him again.

_*Ping*_

**Observe skill has been created. 1/100**

_Through continuous observation a skill to observe objects, situations, and people has been generated that allows information to be gathered. More data is revealed at higher skill levels._

Harry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

"My life really is just like an RPG…Well, if I am going to play, I might as well play to win."

**A/N: So, Harry finally understands the ability he has been gifted with…at least somewhat. At this point in the story, it is the second semester of Harry's 2****nd**** grade school year. This means Harry is currently 7 years old, and the year is 1988. I have never actually played Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I simply know it was released in the UK around 1986-1987. It is a game that was released after D&D, so there are some similarities between the two. That is about the extent of my knowledge. If I messed something up while I was portraying it, please let me know so I can fix any mistakes. **

**This chapter mainly dealt with discovering Harry's ability and how it works. It may seem dry to some but I feel it is better than taking things for granted and just saying "It works because I said so". I want to set up a solid system that the rest of the story will rely on for future development. Also, I felt the Warhammer element was necessary, because the timeframe here is the mid-eighties. There was not much in the way of RPG video games at this time and Harry is too young and under privileged to take notice of them anyways. An RPG board game, however, is similar enough to give Harry a foundation from which he can grow to understand his ability.**

**The next two chapters will deal with level ups and then I can really start getting on with things. Two chapters because my chapters are short :P**

**Please R/R.**


	5. Level Up

**I do not own Harry Potter, The Gamer, or Fallout which are the inspirations for this fanfic.**

**Chapter 5: Level Up  
><strong>

_*Ping*_

**Congratulations!**  
><strong>You have completed your first secret quest!<strong>

**Secret Quest: **  
><strong>It's Morphin' Time!<strong>  
><em>You have a Metamorph bloodline ability!<em>  
><strong>Quest Details:<strong>_**  
><strong>__Alter your appearance using your Metamorph bloodline ability._  
><strong>Completion Reward:<strong>  
><em>+250 exp.<em>  
><em>Gain Metamorph talent 15._

Harry's eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright in his cupboard as he read the pop-up.

"Alter…my appearance? Metamorph…bloodline?!"

Stunned disbelief flowed through him. He slowly reached his hand up to the strands of hair that he could see hanging in front of his face. The strands of hair that shouldn't be there because his Aunt Petunia had shaved him nearly bald the day before. As he ran his hand through his surprisingly full head of hair, his lips began to twitch upwards. He knew his RPG powers were weird, but this hinted at so much more.

"I'm a superhero." A grin stretched across his face before he paused and tilted his head in thought. "Wait…If I can shape shift, that means I'm like that Mystique character in Dudley's comics. Does that mean I'm a supervillain?"

The smile slowly started to reform as he thought of all of the things the Dursley's had put him through, and what he could do with shape shifting powers. "That might not be too bad."

_*Ping*_

**Level Up!**  
><em>Please distribute your stat points!<em>

'Well,' Harry thought, 'this is new.'

With a practiced flick of his wrist, he closed the pop-up and something entirely new took its place.

_*Ping*_

**Henry James Potter**  
><strong><em>Class: <em>**_Gamer_  
><strong><em>Title: <em>**_Pariah_  
><strong><em>Lv. <em>**_6_**_ – Exp: _**_150/600_  
><strong>HP= <strong>59/59  
><strong>MP= <strong>27/27 (-25%)  
><strong> SP= <strong>12/12 (-75%)

** S = **9.9 (-50%) = 5.0 ** + - **  
><strong> P = <strong>6.3 (-50%) = 3.2** + - **  
><strong> E =<strong>11.7 (-50%)= 5.9** + - **  
><strong> C = <strong>3.6 (-50%) = 1.8** + - **  
><strong> I = <strong>8.1 (-50%) = 4.1 ** + - **  
><strong> A = <strong>9.9 (-60%) = 4.0** + - **  
><strong> L =<strong>13.5 (-50%)= 6.8 ** + -**  
><strong> Points to distribute:(25)<strong>

Here it was. This is what Harry had been wanting all along. Tangible proof of how much stronger he was becoming. And apparently with 25 points to distribute he was only going to become stronger. Now, if only he could figure out what he was looking at.

"What the hell is SPECIAL? Okay, I get HP and MP. I remember them from that _Warhammer_ game, but the rest of this is complete gibberish. Hmm…I wonder…"

With that though, Harry pushed his finger against HP on the screen.

Suddenly, a new, smaller pop-up appeared on top of the stats distribution menu

**HP=**_Health Points-a representation of your overall health._

"Well, that solves that problem. Now to see about the rest of them." And so, Harry began to cycle through all the different elements on the menu in front of him.

**MP=**_Mental Points-a representation of your mental stamina_.  
><strong>SP=<strong>_Spiritual Points-a representation of your manna pool_.  
><strong>Strength=<strong>_How strong you are_.  
><strong>Perception=<strong>_How perceptive you are_.  
><strong>Endurance=<strong>_Your ability to endure_.  
><strong>Charisma=<strong>_How charismatic you are_.  
><strong>Intelligence=<strong>_How smart you are_.  
><strong>Agility=<strong>_How agile you are_.  
><strong>Luck=<strong>_How lucky you are._

"This thing doesn't really give me a lot of details…although I guess it tells me enough to get by. It's odd that MP isn't manna points like I thought, but whatever. Now, what should I do with these points? If I put a lot into strength, I really could be a superhero! I bet with 30 points in strength I could lift a car! But…" Harry winced as he looked at his charisma stat. Suddenly a feeling of melancholy began to overshadow all of the joy he had been feeling. "Maybe that's why I can't get any friends…and really, what's with all of the negatives?"

With that thought, Harry tried pressing the negative number beside MP.

Instead of a detailed message, however, all he got was:

**Status Effect**

"Okay, what the hell is a status effect?"

And, as soon as those words left his mouth, a new menu appeared. A menu that pissed him off. Badly.

**Status Effects**

**Malnutrition**  
><em>Due to years of improper diet, you are a scrawny little git.<em>  
><em>-50% to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats.<em>  
><em>Permanently lose 10% of all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats every 5<em>_th__ year after malnutrition began._  
><em>Malnutrition began November 1, 1981.<em>  
><em>To remove this status effect, eat a proper diet every day for six months.<em>

**Human Horcrux**  
><em>Due to an accident of magic you have a portion of a dark wizard's soul stuck to your own. This requires a constant use of magic and mental power to prevent being possessed. <em>  
><em>-25% max MP, -25% max SP if the dark wizard is disembodied.<em>  
><em>-40% max MP, -40% max SP if the dark wizard is corporeal.<em>  
><em>Gain Human Horcrux heritage trait.<em>  
><em>Automatically receive 10 points in Occlumency to shield against the Horcrux's influence.<em>  
><em>Requires 20 points in Occlumency shields to protect against the soul fragment's owner if they become corporeal.<em>  
><em>Method to remove Horcrux is suicide.<em>  
><em>Other methods may exist.<em>

**Bound Magic**  
><em>Someone has bound your magic!<em>  
><em>-50% max SP<em>  
><em>To remove this see a specialist.<em>  
><em>Other methods of removal include entering into high stress situations where your magic is forced to break the binding to save your life. This may have the side effect of turning you into a human bomb and destroying the local wildlife.<em>

**Clumsiness**  
><em>Your Metamorph ability is throwing off your balance!<em>  
><em>-10% Agility<em>  
><em>Gain Lv.3 in the Metamorph skill to counter this effect.<em>

He began to breathe heavily as he read through the menu.

"Malnutrition?! Those bastards really are trying to kill me. And a permanent stat loss…It's already been five years! I…I…" Tears began to leak from his eyes as feelings of frustration and helplessness began to overwhelm him.

Harry curled his knees up against his chest as he tried to wrestle his emotions back under control. He had learned long ago that crying did not get him anywhere. If anything, it often made things worse for him.

With deep gulping breaths, Harry forced his emotions down and began to steady his breathing.

*Ping*

**+1 Occlumency**

And the dam broke. For the first time in four years, Harry's emotions overwhelmed him. Pressing his face into his pillow to muffle himself, so he wouldn't wake the Dursleys, Harry finally let loose and truly cried over the train wreck that was his life. He cried over his dead parents, he cried over what could have been, but mostly he cried in self-pity over the mountain of abuse everyone seemed to heap upon him. There is only so much someone can take before they break down. Fortunately, Harry was strong enough to eventually pull himself back together. It was doubly fortunate that he had woken up early enough, that even after his cry, the Dursleys were still asleep. Otherwise they would be beating down his door, and that would have only made his emotional state even worse.

It was a numb and slightly apathetic Harry that finally sat up and looked back at the Status Effect screen. A feeling of 'It really can't get any worse, so I might as well get this over with' filled him as he looked at his next affliction.

**Human Horcrux**

"Well…fuck."

At that moment, something finally broke inside Harry.

**A/N: A few things here. First: in case it needs to be said, I do not own Mystique, although I wish I did. She is pretty badass.**

**Second: yes I realize I listed Harry's name as Henry. I did this because Harry is simply going to be a nickname in my story. I have seen other fanfictions use the name Harrison, or Hadrian, but I can't remember seeing Henry. Although, I am sure it is out there. To me, Henry makes the most sense, as it is a noble British name used by princes and kings, whereas Harry, as far as I am aware, is only used by the nobility as a nickname. Cases in point: Prince Harry, Duke of Glouceste (actual name Henry William Frederick Albert, 1900-1974) was likely who Prince Harry (Henry Charles Albert David, born 1984) was named after. Also, there are Kings Henry I-Henry VIII, along with King William IV (William Henry), to consider. There is more British nobility than that bearing the name Henry, but I believe that is enough to prove my point. Henry is a strong British name and something I could see a pureblood like James Potter naming his son. Even if he did not hold stock in a lot of the traditions, they would have affected him somewhat, and I am sure he would want to give his son a strong, proud name.**

**Third: for anyone remembering how Death said Harry's name was Peverell, remember that he also said he became the head of that family after he killed the previous head. Since said killing has not yet happened, and Harry is the descendant of a female Peverell (Of Ignotus Peverell's line) who married into another family, he is not a Peverell in this story. Unless he goes and kills them again to become the sole remaining descendant. Little murdering git. **

**Finally, fourth: for anyone who thinks Harry is too young to be swearing and using words like "fuck", think back to how many times you heard kids swearing when you were a child yourself, and away from your parents watchful eyes. Taboo words fascinate many kids, so don't be too surprised that Harry, who is 8 at this point, will occasionally swear. FYI: on the story's timeline it is currently early morning on Sep 1, 1988. The morning before Harry's first day of third grade.**

**So, what do you think? Am I doing okay with this? Sorry about the clifie, but it seemed like a good spot to break. Next chapter will be the stat distribution and hopefully it will be the last chapter dealing with setting up the game system.**

**Please R/R.**


	6. A Full English Breakfast

**I do not own Harry Potter, The Gamer, or Fallout which are the inspirations for this fanfic.**

**A/N: I have had several requests to lengthen my chapters. To that, I respond that I don't have a set length on how long I am going to make a chapter. I simply write until the story tells me "Hey, this is a good stopping point!" However, as an avid reader myself I admit that my chapters have been a bit short compared to what I like to see in others' work, so I can understand why some might be frustrated. I will try and do a better job with my length in the future. That said, one with the show!**

**Chapter 6: A Full English Breakfast With Something SPECIAL on the Side**

It was a very different Harry that crawled out of the cupboard that morning. At first, he went about his day like usual. He used the bathroom and took a shower with cold water to avoid being yelled at for using up all the hot water, even though his showers never took more than five minutes.

He then dressed himself in Dudley's hand-me-downs, which were so baggy he had to use some rope to keep the pants on. He used rope, because he was never given a belt. He then went about preparing a full English breakfast. He fried up the eggs and sausage, flipped some pancakes, and sautéed some mushrooms.

*_ping*_

**+1 Cooking**

Harry negligently dispersed the screen with a wave of his hand without even acknowledging its existence. The fact of the matter is, all of this was done absentmindedly as Harry barely registered anything going on in the world around him.

Ever since he had read through the Status Effects he was under, Harry had been unable to muster up the will to care about anything else. The drive he had been developing to push himself to new heights seemed to have died in its infancy. Neutered, before it could achieve anything worthwhile. All Harry felt at that moment was a numb shock and an overwhelming apathy that told him that nothing really mattered anymore. His current mindset was that anything he did would be worthless in the end. After all, in the game of life, the deck was so stacked against him that it was beyond ridiculous.

His relatives starved him making him a sickly child that gets permanently weaker every five years, some evil wizard got a part of themselves stuck inside of him and was sucking up all his energy, another evil wizard felt that wasn't enough and bound his magic, and when something good actually happened, like becoming a metamorph, it made him a clumsy idiot!

_Ssssss_

_"_Ouch!"

Harry slipped off the stool he was standing on to cook after he accidentally burned himself on the hot stove top. Banging his head on the way down didn't improve his temperament any.

Harry held his head in pain for a moment, then, with a sigh, he stood back up. Fetching the pan of sautéed mushrooms off of the stove, he finished preparing the Dursleys' breakfast. He could already hear the thunderous steps of Vernon as he went about getting ready for the morning in his room, so he knew the family would be at the table shortly.

Not that he really cared.

He didn't even care that he had leveled up. After reading the status effect screen, he couldn't even muster up the will to distribute his points, so he simply closed the window and after a moment of staring at the wall in silence, left his cupboard to begin the day.

And now, there he was. Staring at the table he had just set up. A full English breakfast laid out in front of three seats, with a full pitcher of orange juice at the table's center. A proper English breakfast set out in a proper English dining room. Set up for a proper English family, in a proper English neighborhood, in a proper English town, in good old jolly England.

It's too bad he wasn't included in that. Proper breakfasts were for proper people after all. And he was anything but proper. He was the Freak. He was the aberration. The unwanted nephew that should have died with his parents. As would have been proper.

A burning heat gripped his heart. Consuming the tundra his apathy had created, a white hot _rage_ began to build inside of him. It was all too much. He had to leave. If he didn't leave he was going to do something. He didn't know what, but he knew it would be violent. He had to leave **NOW.**

***pop***

_*Ping*_

**Apparition skill has been created. 1/100**  
><em>Through a burst of accidental magic, the skill of apparition has been created. Now you can apparate anywhere you have been previously! Be careful, those with an apparition skill below 20 have a significant chance of splinching.<em>

And just like that, his rage was gone. Not because he had dealt with it, but because for the second time that day he had been struck dumb. For the second time that day he was overcome by shock. However, this time it was not a bad shock. Something good had happened. At least, he thought it was good. Admittedly, he had trouble understanding exactly what it was that had happened.

All he knew was that one moment he was staring at the breakfast he had made, and the next he was standing in front of his school with a pop-up telling him he had done something called apparition.

'Wait…school!? I don't have any of my stuff with me!'

_*ping*_

**Quest Notice:**  
><strong>French Friday:<strong>  
><em>In response to the Education Reform Act 1988 that came into effect this year, St. Grogory's Primary School has hired a part time French teacher to teach lessons every Friday. Impress the new teacher and begin down the path to being multilingual!<em>  
><strong>Quest Details:<strong>  
><em>Impress the new French teacher during your first lesson.<em>  
><strong>Time Limit:<strong>  
><em>Quest ends September 9th, 1988.<em>  
><strong>Completion Reward:<strong>  
><em>+50 exp.<em>  
><em>+20 influence with the new French teacher.<em>  
><em>+5 French<em>  
><em>+1 French to English translation dictionary.<em>  
><strong>Completion Failure:<strong>  
><em>-20 influence with the new French teacher.<em>

"That's right…quests. Quests have always been a good thing as long I do them right. Maybe this thing isn't a total loss…I mean, I can get rid of my malnutrition if I eat right. I have no idea how I am going to do that while living at the Dursleys', but I have almost three years to figure it out. That horcrux thing…okay that's just bad. But it did say there might be ways to get rid of it…besides killing myself…okay that one just sucks. But for the bound magic, all I have to do is see a specialist! A specialist…in… magic…and I have no idea how to find one. Again, that just sucks. But…but…the clumsiness! I just have to be a better metamorphitswhatever and that goes away! That's something at least! I…I…okay, I am trying way too hard to convince myself this whole situation doesn't suck. Hmm…though, no matter how much this crap hurts me, if I make myself strong enough, I can still get by just fine. That's a lot of effort just to be normal, but I suppose it beats being a freak. And I still have those points! I can get started right now! If I can open that menu back up again…how does that work anyways?"

Harry began pacing back and forth as he tried to psyche himself up. The spike of rage he felt had disappeared and, thankfully, it took his crippling apathy with it. It even rekindled his desire to improve in the process. So, now he was stoking those embers to help them gain new life.

"Hmm…if I remember right, the Status Effect Menu,"

_*ping*_

**Status Effects**  
><strong>Malnutrition<strong>  
><em>Due to years of improper diet, you are a scrawny little git.<em>  
><em>-50% to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats.<em>  
><em>Permanently lose 10% of all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats every 5<em>_th__ year after malnutrition began._  
><em>Malnutrition began November 1, 1981.<em>  
><em>To remove this status effect, eat a proper diet every day for six months.<em>

**Human Horcrux**  
><em>Due to an accident of magic you have a portion of a dark wizard's soul stuck to your own. This requires a constant use of magic and mental power to prevent being possessed. <em>  
><em>- 25% max MP, -25% max SP if the dark wizard is disembodied.<em>  
><em>-40% max MP, -40% max SP if the dark wizard is corporeal.<em>  
><em>Gain Human Horcrux heritage trait.<em>_Automatically receive 10 points in Occlumency to shield against the Horcrux's influence._  
><em>Requires 20 points in Occlumency shields to protect against the soul fragment's owner if they become corporeal.<em>  
><em>Method to remove Horcrux is suicide.<em>  
><em>Other methods may exist.<em>

**Bound Magic**  
><em>Someone has bound your magic! <em>  
><em>-50% max SP<em>  
><em>To remove this see a specialist.<em>  
><em>Other methods of removal include entering into high stress situations where your magic is forced to break the binding to save your life. This may have the side effect of turning you into a human bomb and destroying the local wildlife.<em>

**Clumsiness**  
><em>Your Metamorph ability is throwing off your balance!<em>  
><em>-10% Agility<em>  
><em>Gain Lv.3 in the Metamorph skill to counter this effect.<em>

"Cancel! Cancel! Okay, I did _not_ need to see that again right now. But, it's obvious that these menus are voice activated, so…Player Menu!"

Harry looked forward expectantly with an excited look on his face. He could feel a gentle breeze blow through his hair and the early morning mist tingle against his skin. As the crickets chirped a soft symphony, Harry beheld the glorious sight of,

"Nothing. Okay those obviously weren't the right words. Maybe…Character Sheet? Stats? Status?"

*_ping*_

"No! No! No! Not that menu again!"

With a quick punch of his fist, Harry was able to dispel the horror before it fully manifested on his plane of existence. After his brief panic attack, he wiped the sweat from his brow and continued his experimentation.

"Okay, maybe it's that acronym the stats made! What was it again…SPECIAL!"

*_ping*_

**Henry James Potter**  
><em><strong>Class: <strong>__Gamer_  
><em><strong>Title: <strong>__Pariah_  
><em><strong>Lv. <strong>__6** – **__**Exp: **__150/600_  
><strong>HP= <strong>59/59  
><strong>MP=<strong>27/27 (-25%)  
><strong>SP= <strong>12/12 (-75%)

**S = **9.9 (-50%) = 5.0 **+ - **  
><strong>P = <strong>6.3 (-50%) = 3.2 **+ - **  
><strong>E =<strong>11.7 (-50%) =5.9 **+ - **  
><strong>C = <strong>3.6 (-50%) = 1.8 **+ - **  
><strong> I = <strong>8.1 (-50%) = 4.1 **+ - **  
><strong>A = <strong>9.9 (-60%) = 4.0 **+ - **  
><strong>L =<strong>13.5 (-50%) =6.8 **+ -**  
><strong> Points to distribute:(25) <strong>

"Niiiiice. Alright. So…now…what do I do?"

Harry began to closely inspect his S.P.E.C.I.A.L. menu to figure out what he should do. In doing this, however, he took notice of something he had not paid attention to before. Namely, his class and title. Out of curiosity, he touched them to find out what they were.

**Gamer**  
><em>You live your life like a game. This class grants the talents Gamers Mind, and Gamers Body.<em>

**Pariah**  
><em>Automatically fail all Charisma checks.<em>  
><em>You are incapable of making friends and are more likely to be bullied by children.<em>  
><em>Because adults don't want to touch or be near you, they are more likely to ignore you and will never physically abuse you just to avoid having to touch you.<em>

"Interesting. Now that I think about it, the Gamer class is pretty obvious in what it does. And the Pariah title, while it seems bad, actually might be pretty useful for me. I bet it's the only reason why Vernon hasn't beaten me into an early grave. I suppose it is kind of a necessary evil as long I live at the Dursleys'. But, it will probably make that quest I got earlier impossible. I wonder if I can change my title?"

_*ping*_

**Please select your title:**  
><em>Pariah<em>  
><em>-none-<em>

"Perfect! Now, as long as I remember to turn it back on before going to the Durleys, I will be set!"

With a quick tap of his finger, Harry returned to the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. menu.

**Henry James Potter**  
><em><strong>Class: <strong>__Gamer_  
><em><strong>Title: <strong>__-none-_  
><em><strong>Lv. <strong>__6** – **__**Exp: **__150/600_  
><strong>HP= <strong>59/59  
><strong>MP=<strong>27/27 (-25%)  
><strong>SP= <strong>12/12 (-75%)

**S = **9.9 (-50%) = 5.0 **+ - **  
><strong>P = <strong>6.3 (-50%) = 3.2 **+ - **  
><strong>E =<strong>11.7 (-50%) =5.9 **+ -**  
><strong>C = <strong>3.6 (-50%) = 1.8 **+ -**  
><strong> I = <strong>8.1 (-50%) = 4.1 **+ -**  
><strong>A = <strong>9.9 (-60%) = 4.0 **+ -**  
><strong>L =<strong>13.5 (-50%) =6.8 **+ - **  
><strong> Points to distribute:(25)<strong>

"Hmm…now for the stats. My Charisma is horrible, but frankly, people suck so I don't really care. Next lowest stats are Perception, Intelligence, and Agility. All of those seem pretty important. Especially Perception and Intelligence if I want to impress that French teacher. And, it will take a lot of points to have a decent score with those crappy Status Effects dragging me down. Oh well. I guess I will focus on Perception and Intelligence for now, to help out with my quest."

With that, Harry put 15 points in Intelligence, and 10 points in Perception. He noticed how his stats changed, and how the (25) at the bottom of the menu decreased as he assigned his points. Just to see if he could, he pressed the minus besides Charisma, but nothing happened. He was interested to see he could decrease his Intelligence or Perception, but not below their starting values. It was obvious this meant he was only allowed to change his mind before finalizing the distribution. With a shrug he pressed the "Okay" button as he accepted his new stats.

**Henry James Potter**  
><em><strong>Class: <strong>__Gamer_  
><em><strong>Title: <strong>__-none-_  
><em><strong>Lv. <strong>__6** – **__**Exp: **__150/600_  
><strong>HP= <strong>59/59  
><strong>MP=<strong>74/74 (-25%)  
><strong>SP= <strong>22/22 (-75%)

**S = **9.9 (-50%) = 5.0 **+ -**  
><strong>P =<strong>16.3 (-50%) =8.2 **+ - **  
><strong>E = <strong>11.7 (-50%)=5.9 **+ -**  
><strong>C = <strong>3.6 (-50%) = 1.8 **+ -**  
><strong> I =<strong>23.1 (-50%)=11.6 **+ -**  
><strong>A = <strong>9.9 (-60%) = 4.0 **+ -**  
><strong>L =<strong>13.5 (-50%) = 6.8 **+ -**  
><strong> Points to distribute: (0) <strong>

Harry was interested to note the increase in his MP and SP. He noticed his MP increased a lot more than his SP, but figured that it made sense. MP stands for mental power, so it is obvious intelligence would effect that. He mused that it also stood to reason that intelligence would increase his SP, a.k.a. magic. He wondered if the (-75%) had something to do with it not increasing as much. He could not be sure since he had not studied percentages yet in math, but it made sense to him.

Satisfied with his changes, Harry prepared to head into the school, when he was surprised by another,

_*ping*_

**You have 84 skill points to distribute:**

**General Magic**  
><strong>Apparition: <strong>1/100  
><strong>Observe:<strong> 1/100  
><strong>Occlumency: <strong>10/100

**Combat Skills**  
><strong>Physical Damage Resistance: <strong>12/100  
><strong>Stealth: <strong>15/100

**Languages, Sciences, and the Arts**  
><strong>Cooking: <strong>26/100  
><strong>English: <strong>13/100  
><strong>Math: <strong>6/100  
><strong>Science: <strong>4/100

**Social Skills**  
><strong>Social Aptitude: <strong>6/100  
><strong>Speech:<strong> 2/100

**General Skills**  
><strong>Cleaning: <strong>20/100  
><strong>Climbing: <strong>11/100  
><strong>Gardening: <strong>24/100  
><strong>Jumping: <strong>13/100  
><strong>Running: <strong>17/100

Today just seemed to be full of Surprises for Harry. He had simply closed all of the windows in his funk that morning, so he had completely missed this. But he found himself getting extremely excited. Not only could he improve his base stats, but he could improve specific skills too! And it seemed that his status effects didn't hurt his skills. Maybe it was still possible for him to be a superhero! Or villain. Whichever really.

The skills seemed to be self- explanatory on what they do, but he figured he should be sure anyways, and began to cycle through his skills to see if they matched up with what he figured.

**General Magic**  
><strong>Apparition: 1100**  
><em>Warping reality since 1612.<em>  
><em>The ability to fold space in order to instantaneously move from one point to another as long as a solid mental picture of the two points are maintained.<em>  
><em>At level 20, the risk of splinching decreases significantly.<em>  
><em>Costs 20 SP and 5 MP.<em>

**Observe: 1/100**  
><em>A stalker's best friend.<em>  
><em>A skill to observe objects, situations, and people that allows information to be gathered. More data is revealed at higher skill levels.<em>  
><em>Costs 1 SP and 1 MP.<em>

**Occlumency: 10/100**  
><em>To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.<em>  
><em>Your ability to organize your mind and form shields against intrusion.<em>  
><em>During a legilimency assault, if the legilimencer's skill is equal or less than your Occlumency skill, they are automatically blocked. If their skill is greater, x MP per second is consumed to shield your mind until eye contact is broken or the assault ends. In this, "x" is the difference between their Legilimency skill level and your Occlumency skill level. If you fall below 10 MP, your Occlumency shields will fail.<em>

**Combat Skills**  
><strong>Physical Damage Resistance: 12100**  
><em>Thank you sir! May I have another? <em>  
><em>The body's durability increases and takes less damage.<em>  
><em>-1% damage from physical attacks per point in this skill<em>

**Stealth: 15/100**  
><em>Sneaky, sneaky!<em>  
><em>Your natural ability to go unnoticed.<em>

**Languages, Sciences, and the Arts**  
><strong>Cooking: 26100**  
><em>Just put a little hot sauce on it.<em>  
><em>The ability to prepare ingredients and cook meals.<em>

**English: 13/100**  
><em>The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.<em>  
><em>The ability to speak, read, and write the English language.<em>

**Math: 6/100**  
><em>√(-1) 2³ ∑ π<em>  
><em>The ability to understand and utilize mathematical skills from the elementary level to advanced algebraic concepts.<em>

**Science: 4/100**  
><em>1.21 Gigawatts?!<em>  
><em>The ability to understand and utilize science and technology on a general level.<em>

**Social Skills**  
><strong>Social Aptitude: 6100**  
><em>It is what it is.<em>  
><em>The ability to understand and interact with people and society as a whole.<em>

**Speech:** **2/100**  
><em>Your tongue is silver and your words are silk.<em>  
><em>The ability to captivate an audience with your words.<em>

**General Skills**  
><strong>Cleaning: 20100**  
><em>OCD is where it's at.<em>  
><em>The ability to dust, polish, remove stains, and just clean in general.<em>

**Climbing: 11/100**  
><em>Reach farther.<em>

**Gardening: 24/100**  
><em>How green is your thumb?<em>  
><em>The ability to identify, plant, grow, prune, and keep plants healthy.<em>

**Jumping: 13/100**  
><em>Jump higher.<em>

**Running: 17/100**  
><em>Run faster.<em>

"It seems like the game has a sense of humor. Or at least it thinks it does. Whatever, the skills are pretty much what I figured. Occlumency and Apparition were the only weird ones. Useful though. Now, what should I do with these points? Well, I definitely want to get Apparition and Occlumency up to level 20. I don't know what splinching is, but it sounds bad, so best avoid that. And I remember 20 was good for dealing with that horcrux too. As for the rest…might as well save them. I can use some to help on my French quest once I learn that skill, and maybe I'll get some other good skills eventually."

So, Harry distributed 19 points to Apparition, and 10 points to Occlumency, leaving him with 55 points to save for later. Confirming his choices, Harry watched the menu disappear and prepared once again to enter the school.

*_ping*_

"Again?!"

**You have 3 talent points to spend. Please select your talents:**

**Lady Killer**  
><em><em>You sexy thing.<em>  
><em>+10% damage to the opposite sex, unlocks unique dialogue options with the opposite sex.<em>  
><em>

**Thief: 1/3**  
><em><em>Because purse snatching is a healthy hobby.<em>  
><em>+5 Lockpick, +5 Pickpocket, +5 Stealth.<em>  
><em>

**Swift Learner: 1/3**  
><em>Better than methamphetamines.<em>  
><em>+10% XP whenever XP is earned.<em>

**Intense Training: 1/10**  
><em><em>Get pumped up!<em>  
><em>+1 to any SPECIAL stat.<em>  
><em>

**Prodigy**  
><em>So special, the short bus can't handle you.<em>  
><em>Gain a talent point every level instead of every other level.<em>

**Educated**  
><em>U be smurt.<em>  
><em>+3 skill points per level.<em>

**Iron Fist: 1/3**  
><em><em>Sandbag punching 101.<em>  
><em>+5 points of Unarmed Damage.<em>  
><em>

**Toughness:**  
><em><em>I ain't got time to bleed.<em>  
><em>+10% Damage Resistance permanently.<em>  
><em>

**Fortune Finder**  
><em><em><em>I'm rich, biatch!<em>  
><em>Increases the likelihood of randomly finding lost money.<em>_  
><em>

**Metamorph: 2/5**  
><em>Man of a thousand faces.<em>  
><em>Your ability to manipulate your physical appearance.<em>  
><em>Maintains Clumsiness status effect.<em>  
><em>+0.5 to transfiguration skill gain multiplier.<em>  
><em>SP cost variable to initiate, No cost to maintain altered appearance.<em>  
><em>Requires 10 Intelligence and 10 Agility.<em>

**Parsel Bloodline: 2/5**  
><em>Who wouldn't want a vibrating tongue?<em>  
><em>The ability to communicate with snakes and subjugate them to your will. When two parseltongue users attempt to dominate the same serpent, the more skilled will prevail.<em>  
><em>Requires 10 Intelligence and 10 Charisma.<em>

"Now this is interesting. Metamorph and Parsel Bloodline are greyed out, but I guess that's because of the stat requirements. Huh, I guess Charisma is useful for something after all. Maybe I'll look into that on my next level up. Whatever, for now I'll deal with what I've got. And speaking of what I've got…Parsel Bloodline: 2/5? That means I must already have level one. I will definitely have to find a snake to try that out sometime. I bet I could scare the crap out of Dudley with this."

A smirk spread across Harry's face as he daydreamed about some long desired revenge.

"Heheh. My first act as a supervillain will be awesome! Muhah-!" *Cough* *Cough* "…I definitely have to work on my evil laugh. Moving on! Which of these talents do I want? Oooh. Prodigy is a definite. Educated too. But what about the third? I can always use more stat points, so maybe Intense training. But then again I receive them anyways when I level, so maybe Swift Learner so I can level quicker. Yeah, I am going to have to go with Swift Learner."

With his choices chosen, the Talent Menu disappeared, and this time, no new screens popped up.

"About time."

* * *

><p>Harry's entire crisis had happened on the first day of his third grade year. It had been September 1, 1988 and a Thursday. That meant he had a little over a week before the time limit for his quest expired.<p>

He was determined to become as prepared as possible so that he would succeed. To that end, he spent all of his available time in the library studying. Unfortunately, all his school library had that would help him in his quest was a French to English translation dictionary. He could see how this would be useful if he had a baseline to work with. However, since he had no knowledge in French to begin with, none of the information stuck with him. The fact that he hadn't learned the French skill by the end of Friday proved to him that he was going about things the wrong way.

Besides his study, he also tried to run, jump, and climb everywhere he went. If there was a shortcut through a backyard that required jumping over bushes and climbing over fences, he took it. If he could get away with running at any time, he did. In fact, during mandatory recess, he spent the entire time running and jumping in circles around the playground, with an occasional break to climb on the jungle gym. He received a few odd looks for his behavior, but most just chocked it up to the weird kid being weird, and ignored it. He figured that any chance he had to improve his skills was worth taking, and most people didn't care about what he did anyways as long as he didn't bother them, so why not?

At the Dursley residence, Harry still kept his head down. However, it was not out of fear and a desire to eventually please the Dursleys like he had before. He no longer cared what they thought about him, and although some fear still remained, it was not enough to influence his actions. No, the reason he kept his head down and performed all of the tasks they gave him was to avoid attention. He knew that the game would let him become strong, but he also knew he was not there yet. His main worry was that if the Dursleys noticed him becoming stronger, or smarter, they would actively try and stop him. But, as long as he did his chores and stayed out of their way, they paid little attention to him. So, for now he did what he was told and otherwise avoided the house as much as possible by running around town to improve his skills.

As Saturday dawned, Harry decided to try the local library in the hope that they would have more material on learning French than his school library had. He had gained 2 points in running and 1 in both climbing and jumping, but as far as French went, the last two days had been rather unproductive.

So, after finishing his morning chores, he turned off his _Pariah _title and headed to the public library for a better variety of books. It was two miles to his public library, and for a normal 8 year old that may seem like a lot. However, Harry's 19/100 running skill was nothing to scoff at, and he made the trip with ease.

Arriving, only slightly out of breath, Harry took a moment to take in the sight of the building. It was a squat, single story, red brick building with a sign to the right of its double door entrance stating, "Little Whinging Public Library." An uninvolved observer might state that it was a wholly unimpressive site that highlighted how little the locals cared about learning. To Harry, however, it was a beacon of hope. A place where he could improve all of his educational skills with little to no interruption. He knew that Dudley, or any of the Dursleys for that matter, would never be caught dead at the library, so he knew that this place could become a safe haven for him. It was with great trepidation that Harry stepped up to the entrance and with a reverent push upon the doors, crossed the threshold into realm of Athena.

*_ping*_

**Quest Notice:**  
><strong>Permission to Learn:<strong>  
><em>Children under the age of 11 are not allowed in the public library without the supervision of a parent or guardian unless they have a signed permission slip to allow their presence.<em>  
><strong>Quest Details:<strong>  
><em>1. Get a signed permission slip bearing Petunia or Vernon Dursley's signature.<em>  
><em>Or,<em>  
><em>2. Forge Petunia or Vernon Dursley's signature on a permission slip.<em>  
><strong>Time Limit:<strong>  
><em>None.<em>  
><strong>Completion Reward:<strong>  
><em><strong>Method 1:<strong>_  
><em>+50 exp<em>  
><em>+5 Social Aptitude<em>  
><em>+5 Speech<em>  
><em>+1 library card<em>  
><em><strong>Method 2:<strong>_  
><em>+50 exp<em>  
><em>+5 Calligraphy<em>  
><em>+5 Forging<em>  
><em>+1 Library Card<em>  
><strong>Quest Acceptance:<strong>  
><em>To accept quest, speak with a librarian and receive a permission slip.<em>

Harry's first step into the library turned into a stumble.

"Bugger. There is no way I can talk those two into signing a permission slip. Looks like forgery it is!"

And with that, Harry walked up to the nearest Library attendant and asked for a permission slip. She was an older lady with her greying hair tied up into a bun and glasses very similar to his own. The only difference being that her glasses were in better shape and had a delicate chain attached to their end that went around her neck. She looked stern, but was very kind to him as she explained the rules of the library and how he would need to get his permission slip signed before he could come inside.

Afterwards, he left and headed to the park. He knew it would be suspicious if he returned too soon since he came there on his own, so he had to find a way to pass the rest of the morning.

The first thing he did was find an old lady sitting on a bench to borrow a pen from. Then with pen in hand, he signed "V" followed by some scribbles, then "D" followed by more scribbles. He had seen Vernon's signature before and all it looked like was a bunch of scribbles anyways. Also, Vernon had likely never been to the library in his life, so the librarian would not know the difference.

With that taken care of, he pocketed the slip, returned the pen, and started his running, jumping, and climbing routine to pass the time. After four hours, and a few painful falls thanks to his clumsiness Status Effect, he gained a point in all three skills. He also gained one in Physical Damage Resistance from his constant stumbling, and one in Stealth when he successfully hid from Dudley's gang. It was time to return to the library.

Doing so, he found the librarian from earlier and handed her the permission slip. He put on his best innocent smile and waited nervously as she looked it over. She put on her best stern face, which Harry had to admit was pretty impressive, and looked down at him as if inspecting Harry for any deceit. Harry did not falter and kept his angelic smile plastered across his face.

"Very well then." She stated, as she turned away and walked to a desk in the corner. "Follow me and we'll get you a library card."

With that said, they did exactly that. Soon, Harry was holding a new library card, fresh off the type writer, that bore his full name and address along with a library member number that was all his own.

Something that was well and truly his. Not cast offs from someone else, begrudgingly given to him. This was fresh. New. And his. Even better, it said he belonged to something. Sure it was just to a library, but he was now an honest (sort of), card carrying member. He truly belonged to something.

Harry reverently ran his finger across the card. A gentle warmth filled his heart and with a true smile on his face he looked back up at the librarian and whispered a heartfelt "Thank you," before turning around and heading to look for books on learning French.

With a smile on her face, the librarian returned with a, "Your welcome," that went unheard as Harry was already gone on his hunt through the stacks.

*_ping*_

**Quest Details**  
><strong>Permission to Learn:<strong>  
><em>Children under the age of 11 are not allowed in the public library without the supervision of a parent or guardian unless they have a signed permission slip to allow their presence.<em>  
><strong>Quest Details:<strong>  
><em>1. Get a signed permission slip bearing Petunia or Vernon Dursley's signature.<em>  
><em>Or,<em>  
><em>2. Forge Petunia or Vernon Dursley's signature on a permission slip.<em>  
><strong>Completion Reward:<strong>  
><em>+55 exp<em>  
><em>+5 Calligraphy<em>  
><em>+5 Forging<em>  
><em>+1 Library Card<em>  
><strong>Bonus Reward:<strong>  
><em>+5 Deception<em>  
><em>10 influence with Mrs. Pierre, the librarian<em>

The smile that had been glued to his face since receiving his library card softened as he read about the +5 influence. Knowing that Mrs. Pierre, the librarian, liked him somewhat made this occasion precious to him on a whole other level.

"I really think I am going to like the library."

_*ping*_

**Deception skill has been created: 5/100**  
><em>Through lying and trickery, you have learned the art of Deception. Higher levels makes it easier for you to successfully deceive people.<em>

**Forging skill has been created: 5/100**  
><em>Through falsifying documents, you have learned the art of forgery. This skill must be combined with others to be used. For example, when combined with Calligraphy you can forge signatures, and when combined with painting, you can forge a fake Rembrandt. A high skill in both are required to be successful in more difficult forgeries.<em>

**Calligraphy skill has been created: 5/100**  
><em>The art of penmanship. A higher skill allows for a more elegant and legible script.<em>

* * *

><p>"Bonjour, tout le monde! That means, Hello Everyone! Je m'appelle Mademoiselle Fowler. And that means, my name is Miss Fowler. Now everyone, please repeat after me. Bonjour Mademoiselle Fowler."<p>

Everyone in the class mumbled out a "Bonjour Mademoiselle Fowler" but the teacher didn't seem to mind the lackluster greeting. With a bright smile, she happily chirped back "Très bien!"

Harry could already tell he would enjoy this class. It had been a grueling week of grinding his skills, but the Little Whinging Public Library had come through for him and after earning 5 points and adding another 5 from his remaining skill points, he was sitting on top of a healthy 10/100 French skill. Perhaps that might not seem like much, but for someone who was not expected to know any French, he felt it was more than enough. In fact, it was almost as high as his skill in English, and that was his native language! Unfortunately, skillful usage of the language did not equate to a memorized vocabulary, so he still was much more proficient in English.

Besides being happy with his preparation, he genuinely liked Mlle. Fowler. For one, Mlle. Fowler didn't scowl whenever she saw him like every other teacher did. For another, her upbeat attitude just made the class seem like it would be fun. He couldn't understand why his classmates didn't seem as excited about this new teacher as he was, but he didn't care about their opinions anyways, so in the end, it didn't matter.

Now, he only had to hope that his study was enough to suitably impress Mlle. Fowler. He didn't want her to become like all the others just because he failed a quest. For a while now, he had been treating quests just like amusing little adventures. But this quest really brought home their importance. This one quest would shape his interactions for the foreseeable future in this class. This single quest would determine whether or not this teacher treated him fairly or like pond scum. In that moment, Harry realized that quests could either significantly help or hurt him, and in the process, they would shape the very course of his life.

This was a profound realization for an 8 year old to make in the middle of his first French lesson, but he didn't let it distract him. To him, impressing this French teacher had just become the single most important thing in his life. He doubted anything could ever be more important than this single class, and he wasn't going to screw it up.

"So, does anyone know what très bien means?"

Harry swore under his breath. He knew that he had read that, but he simply couldn't remember. The words were in his mind, but they were jumbled up with so many other words that he couldn't recall their meaning.

Mlle. Fowler's lips turned slightly downwards. "No? Well, it is our first class after all. Those words mean very good. Now, does anyone know any French before we get started?"

Harry's hand shot up like a rocket. This was his chance!

"Yes, Monsieur…?"

"Harry Potter, Mademoiselle Fowler."

Mlle. Fowler's bright smile returned to her face as she replied, "Bon! Now, what words do you know Monsieur Potter?"

"Well, other than the words you just taught us, I know the words: Oui, non, petit, amour, noir, blanc, bleu, rouge, vert, jaune, un, deux, trois, quatre, and cinq. I learned some others, but I've gotten them all mixed up, but I can at least remember what these words mean."

"Incroyable! For everyone else, the words Monsier Potter used were: Oui, which means yes…"

As Mlle. Fowler continued explaining his words to the class, Harry was distracted by a sudden sound.

_*ping*_

**Quest Complete! **  
><strong>French Friday<strong>  
><em>In response to the Education Reform Act 1988 that came into effect this year, St. Grogory's Primary School has hired a part time French teacher to teach lessons every Friday. Impress the new teacher and begin down the path to being multilingual! <em>  
><strong>Quest Details:<strong>  
><em>Impress the new French teacher during your first lesson.<em>  
><strong>Completion Reward:<strong>  
><em>+55 exp.<em>  
><em>+20 influence with the new French teacher.<em>  
><em>+5 French<em>  
><em>+1 French to English translation dictionary.<em>

Harry smiled softly as a weight he hadn't noticed fell off his shoulders. 'That's how things should be,' he thought to himself. As he relaxed into his seat, he turned his attention back to the teacher.

'Things are going to change from now on…this is only the beginning.'

**A/N: I used some quotes in this one for my skills. Below are the quotes and credit is given.**

**1. ****To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. **  
><strong>–<strong>**Lao Tzu**  
><strong>2. Thank you sir! May I have another?<strong>  
><strong>-Chip (Played by Kevin Bacon) in <strong>_**Animal House**_  
><strong>3. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.<strong>  
><strong>- <strong>_**My Fair Lady**_  
><strong>4. <strong>_**√(-1) 2³ ∑ π**_  
><strong>-Not sure who came up with this one, so I will say anonymous unless someone can help me with this. And if you don't get the joke, ask a friend who knows math.<strong>  
><strong>5. 1.21 Gigawatts?! <strong>  
><strong>-Doc (played by Christopher Lloyd) in <strong>_**Back to the Future**_  
><strong>6. It is what it is.<strong>  
><strong>-A thousand sources on this one. So, true origin is likely unknown.<strong>  
><strong>7. Run faster, jump higher, reach farther.<strong>  
><strong>-Jerry Garcia<strong>  
><strong><strong>8<strong>******. ******You sexy Thing.  
><strong>****-Title of a song by "Hot Chocolate"****_**  
><strong>_******9. ************I ain't got time to bleed.******_**_**  
><strong>-<strong>**_**_******Blain (played by Jesse Ventura) _Predator_******  
><strong><strong><strong>10. I'm rich,<strong>********** biatch!************  
><strong>****-Dave Chapelle******  
><strong>11<strong>**************.**************** Man of a thousand faces**  
><strong>-<strong>**************Title of the 1957 film****************, ****Man of a Thousand Faces********

**And here is Harry's current stats and skills!**

**Henry James Potter**  
><em><strong>Class: <strong>__Gamer_  
><em><strong>Title: <strong>__-none-_  
><em><strong>Lv. <strong>__6** – **__**Exp: **__260/600_  
><strong>HP= <strong>59/59  
><strong>MP=<strong>74/74 (-25%)  
><strong>SP= <strong>22/22 (-75%)

**S = **9.9 (-50%) = 5.0 **+ -**  
><strong>P =<strong>16.3 (-50%) =8.2 **+ - **  
><strong>E = <strong>11.7 (-50%)=5.9 **+ -**  
><strong>C = <strong>3.6 (-50%) = 1.8 **+ -**  
><strong> I =<strong>23.1 (-50%)=11.6 **+ -**  
><strong>A = <strong>9.9 (-60%) = 4.0 **+ -**  
><strong>L =<strong>13.5 (-50%) = 6.8 **+ -**  
><strong> Points to distribute: (0) <strong>

**You have 50 skill points to distribute:**

**General Magic**  
><strong>Apparition: <strong>20/100  
><strong>Observe:<strong> 1/100  
><strong>Occlumency: <strong>20/100

**Combat Skills**  
><strong>Physical Damage Resistance: <strong>13/100  
><strong>Stealth: <strong>16/100

**Languages, Sciences, and the Arts**  
><strong>Cooking: <strong>26/100  
><strong>English: <strong>13/100  
><strong>Forging:<strong> 5/100  
><strong>French: <strong>15/100  
><strong>Math: <strong>6/100  
><strong>Science: <strong>4/100

**Social Skills**  
><strong>Deception:<strong> 5/100  
><strong>Social Aptitude: <strong>6/100  
><strong>Speech:<strong> 2/100

**General Skills**  
><strong>Calligraphy: <strong>5/100  
><strong>Cleaning: <strong>20/100  
><strong>Climbing: <strong>13/100  
><strong>Gardening: <strong>24/100  
><strong>Jumping: <strong>15/100  
><strong>Running: <strong>20/100

**If anyone notices, Harry's skill with French is now greater than his skill with English. This does not necessarily mean he is better at French. His skill shows how good he is at using the language. This means: sentence structure, spelling, grammar, punctuation when writing, pronunciation, etc. Of course if he only knows a dozen French words, this does not help him much. It still falls on Harry to learn the words, as gaining the skill will not make the words simply appear in his brain. However, a high skill in French will mean that his retention of French words will improve as well.**

**Another point where languages are concerned. Harry has used English his whole life, but there is a reason the skill is not higher. Just speaking a language does not necessarily make someone better at it. People use bad grammar and speak bastardized English all of the time. This does not contribute to them becoming linguists. For Harry, it is the effort to learn proper English that will raise his English skill points, not the everyday usage of the language. The only reason his skill in English is higher than his other scholastic skills, such as Math, is because of prior learning. He obviously had to learn how to speak English before he went to school, whereas he did not learn math before attending primary.**

**Please R/R**


	7. The Path to Enlightenment

**I do not own Harry Potter, The Gamer, or Fallout which are the inspirations for this fanfic.**

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews everyone! I was hoping to get this out sooner, but life calls me away sometimes. I'll be on a family vacation next week and then college starts back up. Joy! As for a release schedule, that's really hard for me to judge until I get situated with my classes and see how much free time I have. I would estimate a bimonthly release time for the near future. I hope that is realistic, but we will see.**

**Chapter 7: The Path to Enlightenment**

The first month of Harry's third grade year was fairly quiet compared to his past experiences. Thanks to him removing the _Pariah_ title when he went to school, the hostility that his teachers and fellow students showed him was significantly less than it used to be.

Of course, none of them seemed to like him and they all avoided interacting with him when possible, so apparently the damage was already done. Well, none of them interacted with him except Mlle. Fowler and Dudley's gang. And interaction with Dudley's gang is something he tried to avoid.

Mlle. Fowler, however, was a gem. Her friendly nature and upbeat personality inspired a love of the French language in him as well as tempered his growing resentment of the human race. His positive interactions with Mlle. Fowler, and Mrs. Pierre, the librarian, actually planted seeds of hope in him.

While his gaming power gave him hope for his future and self-worth, his interactions with Mlle. Fowler and Mrs. Pierre gave him hope that humanity was not beyond redemption. It also inspired confidence that he could have a positive relationship with others.

These realizations, while profound for Harry's emotional growth, did not have much effect on his day to day life. Instead, his daily schedule consisted of grinding his running, jumping, climbing, and French skills. He became so caught up in this that a month had passed before he realized that although he was improving his skills, he didn't have much of a reason to improve those skills in particular any more. He had simply arbitrarily chosen some of his skills that seemed useful in the moment and focused on them to the exclusion of all else.

It cannot be said that these skills were not useful for him. After all, French gave him a common ground with Mlle. Fowler, and allowed for a positive human interaction that he desperately needed. This was essential for his mental and emotional health. The running, jumping, and climbing, on the other hand, were essential for his physical health as they allowed him to evade Dudley and his crew.

It was a month into the school year now, and avoiding Dudley had become easy. Having gained 7 points in running, 5 points in jumping, and 3 points in climbing, he figured it was time to take a second look at his skills and decide on something else he could focus on. He decided that he would continue training his French skill, even though he had leveled that 4 times as well, simply because it was something he truly enjoyed.

On that subject, it seemed that all of those levels had been gained during his actual French class. This was interesting to him because it seemed to indicate that he improved faster with a teacher rather than self-study. It bothered him that this did not hold true for all of his subjects, since progress in those were minimal. It was possible, he concluded, that his relationship with the teacher played a factor, but he was not sure why.

"Oh well. First things first. Skills!"

Besides the Status Effect and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. menus, Harry had learned how to open his skills menu during the previous month. There was something he found extremely satisfying about watching the numbers climb as he improved.

_*ping*_

**General Magic**  
><strong>Apparition: <strong>20/100  
><strong>Observe: <strong>1/100  
><strong>Occlumency: <strong>20/100

**Combat Skills**  
><strong>Physical Damage Resistance: <strong>15/100  
><strong>Stealth: <strong>18/100

**Languages, Sciences, and the Arts**  
><strong>Cooking: <strong>28/100  
><strong>English: <strong>14/100  
><strong>Forging:<strong> 5/100  
><strong>French:<strong> 19/100  
><strong>Math: <strong>7/100  
><strong>Science: <strong>5/100

**Social Skills**  
><strong>Deception: <strong>6/100  
><strong>Social Aptitude: <strong>7/100  
><strong>Speech:<strong> 3/100

**General Skills**  
><strong>Calligraphy: <strong>6/100  
><strong>Cleaning: <strong>22/100  
><strong>Climbing: <strong>16/100  
><strong>Gardening: <strong>26/100  
><strong>Jumping: <strong>20/100  
><strong>Running: <strong>27/100

Harry smiled as looked at his improvements. He had picked up a few points in various skills, but it was his improvement in French that he truly took pride in. Looking through the list, his eyes were immediately drawn to the magic section. Particularly, Observe.

"Huh. I completely forgot about that skill. It seems like something odd to be considered magic, so it must be more complicated than it sounds. How do I even use magic anyways? Maybe voice activated like the menus? Observe."

After Harry uttered the command, he felt an odd prickling in his gut, but otherwise nothing happened. Heaving a disappointed sight, Harry thought about what his failure to use Observe meant.

"Obviously magic is a more complicated skill than running, so it will take more effort. And, in hindsight, I guess simply saying a word and expecting magic to happen is naïve. Maybe the problem is that I simply don't know how to access my magic."

Following that train of thought, Harry eventually decided he would have to visit the library and see if he could find any insights there. Deciding that he was not going to be able to improve his skills any more, he decided to see if there were any parts of the game system that he had not discovered yet. He had been so focused on his grinding, that he had yet to truly explore how his odd power worked. Harry began his experimenting by stating every command word he could think of. Words like profile, inventory, and just give me something you bloody stupid game, yielded no results. However, when he said talents…

_*ping*_

**Talents**  
><strong>Charms Prodigy<strong>  
><strong>Educated<strong>  
><strong>Gamers Body<strong>  
><strong>Gamers Mind<strong>  
><strong>Metamorph: 15**  
><strong>Parsel Bloodline: 15**  
><strong>Prodigy<strong>  
><strong>Runes Prodigy<strong>  
><strong>Swift Learner: 13**

"Huh, I completely forgot about this from when I leveled up. I never did go back to inspect the talents I already had…might as well do that now then."

**Charms Prodigy**  
><em>You charming charmer! <em>  
><em>Thanks to your Evans heritage, you are born natural at all things related to charms.<em>  
><em>+1 to Charms skill gain multiplier. Higher tier charms accessible without apprenticing.<em>

**Educated**  
><em>U be smurt.<em>  
><em>+3 skill points per level.<em>

**Gamers Body**  
><em>Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game.<em>

**Gamers Mind**  
><em>Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows for a peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effects.<em>

**Metamorph: 1/5**  
><em>Man of a thousand faces.<em>  
><em>Your ability to manipulate your physical appearance.<em>  
><em>Thanks to your Black heritage, you are a budding shape shifter!<em>  
><em>Gain Clumsiness status effect.<em>  
><em>+0.5 to transfiguration skill gain multiplier.<em>  
><em>SP cost variable to initiate, 5 SPmin to maintain_

**Parsel Bloodline: 1/5**  
><em>Who wouldn't want a vibrating tongue?<em>  
><em>The ability to communicate with snakes.<em>  
><em>Thanks to your horcrux heritage, you are a novice snake charmer! <em>

**Prodigy**  
><em>So special, the short bus can't handle you.<em>  
><em>Gain a talent point every level instead of every other level.<em>

**Runes Prodigy**  
><em>From Ancient Sumerian to Elder Futhark you are a natural with all runic languages thanks to your Potter heritage.<em>  
><em>+1 to Runes skill gain multiplier. Higher tier runic formulas accessible without apprenticing.<em>

**Swift Learner: 1/3**  
><em>Better than methamphetamines.<em>  
><em>+10% Exp whenever Exp is earned.<em>

"Well, that's one question answered and another one raised. Several of these talents refer to my heritage. It sounds like I inherited these abilities from my parents. I wonder if…"

With fingers crossed, and a mumbled, "Heritage," Harry received exactly what he was hoping for.

*_ping*_

**Heritage Traits**  
><strong>Black Scion<strong>  
><strong>Halfblood—Evans Scion<strong>  
><strong>Potter Scion<strong>  
><strong>Human Horcrux<strong>

**_Inherited Bloodlines:_**  
><em>Metamorph – Black Bloodline<em>  
><em>Runes Prodigy – Potter Bloodline<em>  
><em>Charms Prodigy – Evans Bloodline<em>  
><em>Parsel Bloodline – Horcrux<em>

With a quickening breath, Harry hastily slapped his finger against each of his heritages to find out more.

**Halfblood – Evans Scion**  
><em>Your mother was Lily Evans, a muggleborn.<em>  
><em>Remove all pureblood penalties resulting from inbreeding.<em>  
><em>Lose half of potential bloodline abilities from pureblood ancestry.<em>  
><em>Gain one random bloodline ability<em>

**Potter Scion**  
><em>Your father was James Potter, a pureblood.<em>  
><em>Inherit two random Potter bloodline abilities.<em>  
><em>Your grandfather was Charlus Potter, a pureblood<em>  
><em>Inherit one random Potter bloodline ability.<em>

**Black Scion**  
><em>Your grandmother was Dorea Black, a pureblood.<em>  
><em>Inherit one random Black bloodline ability.<em>

**Human Horcrux**  
><em>You were transformed into a human horcrux at a young age.<em>  
><em>Inherit one random bloodline from the horcrux in addition to all other bloodlines.<em>

And there it was. In a single moment, the game had taught him more about his parents than he had learned over the course of his entire life at the Dursleys'. Whenever he asked about his parents, the Dursleys had always either ignored him or gone off into a rant about those, in Vernon's words, "Damn drunks." He knew Lily's name thanks to a slip Petunia once had, but he had never known his father's or grandparents' names. To him, this revelation was a true blessing.

It even showed him that despite all of the negatives, the horcrux had given him something as well. He would rather do without the Parsel Bloodline if it let him be rid of the horcrux, but at least it was something.

The screen also raised the question of what were purebloods and muggleborns, but that was of minor importance compared to the connection he now knew he had with his parents and grandparents.

His Metamorph ability was a gift from his grandmother, and his Charms ability a gift from his mother. He didn't know what Charms were, but once he figured it out, he knew he would make the most of it. Finally, his apparent Runes talent was a gift from either his father or grandfather. There was no way to tell which potential talents were lost due to his mom being a muggleborn, but it hardly mattered. Runes were a gift from the Potter line, and that was what was important. And frankly, he was glad his mom was muggleborn. Despite the loss of bloodlines, if it prevented him from suffering from another penalty, that could only be a good thing. He doubted he could survive another Status Effect on top of everything else.

Focusing back on his talents, he realized Runes were something else he could look up at the library. Charms were a lost cause until he could learn more about what they were, but he was sure to find some books on ancient runes if he looked hard enough. He did not know what good it would do him, but it was a gift from his family so he would learn all he could about it.

Going back in his mind over everything he learned, he realized that there was one more thing he was curious about.

"Skill Multipliers"

*_ping*_

**Skill Multipliers**  
><strong><em>Transfiguration 1.5x<em>**  
><strong><em>Runes 2.0x<em>**  
><strong><em>Charms 2.0x<em>**

"Oh well. Nothing besides what my talents already told me. Now, off to the library!"

* * *

><p>It had taken some doing, but after enlisting Mrs. Pierre's aide he was able to locate two books that suited his interests.<p>

First, he had found Practical Yoga, Ancient and Modern, by Ernest Wood. It was an old book published in 1957 that translated the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali into English. Apparently, this dealt with one of the schools of Hindu philosophy and focused on yoga and meditation. Or yoga as a form of meditation. Or meditation as a type of yoga…or something like that. It was all very confusing to him, but from Mrs. Pierre's description, it discussed ways of understanding the body and mind through yoga and meditation and gave a Hindu philosophy on how to go about attaining enlightenment. He just knew something like this could help him discover his magic. If he could ever understand what the hell it was talking about.

The second book he found was Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic, by Edred Thorsson. The book was relatively new, having been published in 1984, and was a goldmine of information as far as Harry was concerned. Not only did it discuss the history and origin of runes, it showed a list of Futhark runes that he could practice with, and discussed the theories behind runic magic and how he could go about using them. As far as runes went, Harry had found his bible and he would study it religiously.

* * *

><p>Time passed, and the seasons changed. Winter had swept the land, leaving the trees barren and the ground covered in powdered snow. Inevitably, that gave way to the buds and fresh growth of spring.<p>

Finally, summer was upon Harry. The school year had ended, and while he was disappointed to leave his French class, he wasn't too upset since Mlle. Fowler taught French through grade 5. After receiving and hiding his report card so he wouldn't get in trouble with the Dursleys (and thus completing the _Secret Smarty – Grade 3 _quest, giving him +330 Exp), Harry left the house to find his hidden spot in the local woods to practice meditation.

It was a nice spot that he had discovered during one of his great Dudley escapes. On that occasion, Dudley's gang had chased him into the woods, and to escape them, Harry utilized his climbing skill and scampered up a large, old, English oak tree. Through a quirk of its natural growth, the oak's branches had created a flat area in the middle of its foliage.

This space was perfect for sitting, or even laying down and resting, and had become a place of escape to relax and meditate for Harry.

Harry had studied his two books fanatically for the first month after discovering them. However, he eventually came to the realization that, despite how awesome runes were, unless he could discover his magic, they were useless. With that thought, Harry dedicated all of his time to the meditation and yoga practices that Practical Yoga, Ancient and Modern discussed. He had improved significantly since then, but he had yet to locate his magic.

Discovering those two books had added the skills Yoga and Runes to his repertoire. But one thing he had not anticipated was that his meditation would improve Occlumency instead of creating its own skill. He was not going to complain about that though. With a 9/100 in Yoga, a 29/100 in Occlumency, and 3/100 in Runes, he felt that he had made progress. He was disappointed that he was not further along, but, in all fairness, they were difficult subjects for an eight year old, now nine year old, boy to practice on his own. And, on top of his skill gains, he had even improved his stats! Apparently all of the exercise he got from chores and escaping Dudley, along with his diligent study, had lead to a +1 in Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Intelligence. That's four total stat points! All in all, he was happy with his progress.

And so, Harry settled into a cross legged position and began to practice Pranayama at the center of his favored English oak. This consisted of controlling his breathing in an attempt to achieve a balance in the energies of his body and mind as a means of attaining inner peace. Or, that was the concept as far as he could tell from his studies. Harry didn't know how long he sat there regulating his breathing. He simply focused inwards and let the world fade away. As he continued to focus inwards, he heard and dismissed a pinging chime as all of the external noises and distractions of the world around him became unimportant background static. Harry was descending into the state of Pratyahara. He had blocked off all the external influences upon his senses and turned his entire focus inwards. It was like his mind was descending into a deep well as it left the world around him behind.

Suddenly, he felt his mind touch upon something vast. He could feel a network of energy flowing throughout his body that seemed to be coming from both his center and from outside his body. This both made sense and did not according to his readings of the Yoga Sūtras.

According to his reading, prana was a cosmic energy that was essentially the force that sustained the universe. It enters the body through the breath and energizes every cell to sustain life. This coincided with the energy he felt entering and leaving his body with every breath. However, this did not explain the other source of energy he felt.

In his gut, at the very core of his being, Harry felt a wealth of energy. It turned the trickle of energy running through his veins that came from his breath, into a torrent. As his mind touched upon this wellspring of energy, Harry felt as if he was touching upon the infinite. Endless power and knowledge were but a thought away. In that moment, Harry knew that if he submerged his consciousness into this energy, he would attain enlightenment. He would be subsumed into the infinite. And in turn, it would consume him. Madness. To attain enlightenment was to be consumed by madness. Hastily, Harry jerked his mind away from this fount of power.

Coming to his senses with a start, Harry looked up to see two blue screens floating in front of him.

**+1 Occlumency**

**+1 Yoga**

With a smile, he dismissed the screens. He knew what he had found. Harry had finally found his magic.

**A/N: The skills use some quotes, and the credit for those is given in the A/N in chapter 6.**

**If I made a mistake when representing the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, please let me know and I will do my best to fix it.**

**Some might be wondering by now why Harry talks to himself so much. Well, he is a lonely boy who grew up without any friends. He has to cope somehow.  
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**On heritage: yes, this means that purebloods inherit 8 bloodlines from their parents and grandparents, and half-bloods only receive 3. That's 4 from the pureblood parent and grandparents, divided by 2, then plus 1 for the muggleborn parent. A muggleborn receives 1 random bloodline from their magic which their magic creates during puberty using their personality and experiences as a template. This is what muggleborns pass on to their children. **

**An example of how this works is that Lily put a lot of effort into learning Charms and really enjoyed the subject. Her magic recognized this, and burned her skill for Charms into her DNA, thus creating her magical bloodline. The progenitor of pareltongue, had a deep infatuation with and love for snakes, and their magic recognized this to create the Parsel bloodline. The original Metamorph had a deep self hatred and wanted to be anyone but themselves. Magic recognized this and gave birth to the Metamorph bloodline. The list goes on.**

**In this world, a half- blood will pass on 2 bloodlines, like a pureblood would, along with 1 from the pureblood grandparent and 0 from the muggleborn grandparent to their children. They will also pass along the inbreeding resistance to their children. This means, in this AU, a child between a half-blood and a pureblood is potentially the strongest, having 7 bloodlines with no inbreeding penalty. The succeeding generation, however, would have the inbreeding penalty added if they marry a pureblood or the child of a half- blood and a pureblood (3/4 blood). Also, a muggle will pass on 0 bloodlines to a magical child and divide the bloodlines their magical mate passes down in half. A muggleborn wed to a muggle will pass down 0 bloodlines and the child will have to discover their own bloodline like their muggleborn parent. A muggle will pass on inbreeding resistance, however a squib will not. Squibs only result from pureblood unions and as such are considered inbred. Due to their damaged magic, they pass on 0 bloodlines, however they do not divide the bloodlines passed on by their mate in half.**

**This means that there is a reason for pureblood elitism in this AU, however, there are consequences to being a pureblood. By marrying a muggleborn, family bloodlines will be lost. However, by remaining a pureblood, the family magic is weakened even if bloodlines are maintained. Essentially, it comes down to strength vs. diversity. On a related note, the offspring of two muggleborns will have 2 bloodlines (1 from each parent) but will only be able to pass on 1 of them to their offspring. They are essentially a muggleborn with 2 bloodlines as far as bloodline inheritance is concerned. This means they pass 1 bloodline to their children and 0 to their grandchildren and the inbreeding resistance is passed on to 2 successive generations. The child of two 2 bloodline muggleborns will also be a 2 bloodline muggleborn, inheriting 1 from each parent.**

**A few final notes on bloodlines. When the bloodlines are being passed on, there is a 95% chance that a bloodline being passed will be something the parent or grandparent possesses. However, there is a 5% chance that a bloodline being passed on will be a reactivated bloodline from a family's ancestors that had been dormant. This is how Harry received the metamorph bloodline despite Dorea not being a metamorph herself. Also, all of this is a guideline, not a rule. On rare occasions, a pureblood may be born who does not possess the inbreeding penalty (due to a quirk of genetics), or possesses more or less than 8 bloodlines. Occasionally a muggleborn will possess the inbreeding penalty (because that can happen among muggles too), or will possess more than 1 bloodline, or even have 0 bloodlines. These are rare occurrences, but do happen. However, I have spent enough time explaining the concept of heritage for my AU to expound any further here.**

**Henry James Potter**  
><em><strong>Class: <strong>__Gamer_  
><em><strong>Title: <strong>__-none-_  
><em><strong>Lv. <strong>__6** – **__**Exp: **__590/600_  
><strong>HP= <strong>64/64  
><strong>MP=<strong>76/76 (-25%)  
><strong>SP= <strong>23/23 (-75%)

**S =**10.9 (-50%) =5.5 **+ -**  
><strong>P =<strong>16.3 (-50%) =8.2 **+ - **  
><strong>E =<strong>12.7 (-50%) =6.4 **+ -**  
><strong>C = <strong>3.6 (-50%) = 1.8 **+ -**  
><strong> I =<strong>24.1 (-50%)=12.1 **+ -**  
><strong>A =<strong>10.9 (-60%) =4.4 **+ -**  
><strong>L =<strong>13.5 (-50%) = 6.8 **+ -**  
><strong> Points to distribute: (0) <strong>

**Please R/R**


End file.
